PreClear -Built into ver 6?

[David Bott]

Hi...

 

I keep reading about preclear and I understand why you want to do it to etc, etc.  But what I do not know is that is it an option that shows you can use up on a new drive in ver 6? 

 

I ask for I have a new drive arriving tomorrow to replace my parity drive.  I see nothing in the menus for preclear, so I am just checking in.

 

Thanks

[RobJ]

It's not built in, but there's a Preclear plugin, that gives a 'built-in' look to it, used with the Unassigned Devices plugin.

[David Bott]

It's not built in, but there's a Preclear plugin, that gives a 'built-in' look to it, used with the Unassigned Devices plugin.

 

Thanks. 

 

I hate to ask, but were do I find V6 plugins? I see how to use Docker and got that to show me files...but plugins do not seem to have a way to list ones you can install.

[Squid]

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?board=77.0  All you have to do is paste the URL of the .plg file into the box within Plugins/Install Plugin.

 

There is no equivalent of CA for plugins.

[David Bott]

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?board=77.0  All you have to do is paste the URL of the .plg file into the box within Plugins/Install Plugin.

 

There is no equivalent of CA for plugins.

 

Ah...Totally missed that. Sooooo used to UnMenu.

 

Thanks for the help.

[garycase]

Don't miss the note r.e. the actual pre-clear script.

 

Installing the Plugin [VERY simple ... just copy the URL [ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gfjardim/unRAID-plugins/master/plugins/preclear.disk.plg ];  go to the Plugins tab; click on the Install Plugin tab; paste the URL; and then click on Install.

 

BUT you also need to add the actual preclear script to the /boot/config/plugins/preclear.disk/ folder.

 

The preclear script is available here:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2817.0;attach=20382

 

Are you replacing a failed parity disk or just upgrading to a larger one ??

 

[David Bott]

I did not miss it.

 

My parity drive is getting some errors reported in Smart. I will have the replacement tomorrow and wanted to remove my cache drive and use that connection to hookup and clear the new drive before I make it the parity drive. 

 

Not quite sure how I do the second step being parity and all. Guessing it would be like replacing any drive.  Just have not done it with V6 yet.

[garycase]

Since this is for a replacement -- not a newly added drive -- the only purpose the pre-clear serves is to test the drive.    If you have another system available, you can actually do this quite well using WD's Data Lifeguard (or another manufacturer's diagnostics) and not have to do anything on the UnRAID server until you're actually ready to do the replacement.

 

When you're ready to replace the parity drive, you simply Stop the array; unassign the parity drive;  Start the array (so parity shows as missing); and then shut down.    Swap the drives;  boot; assign the new parity drive; and then Start the array ... and it will do a new parity sync.

 

[David Bott]

Since this is for a replacement -- not a newly added drive -- the only purpose the pre-clear serves is to test the drive.    If you have another system available, you can actually do this quite well using WD's Data Lifeguard (or another manufacturer's diagnostics) and not have to do anything on the UnRAID server until you're actually ready to do the replacement.

 

When you're ready to replace the parity drive, you simply Stop the array; unassign the parity drive;  Start the array (so parity shows as missing); and then shut down.    Swap the drives;  boot; assign the new parity drive; and then Start the array ... and it will do a new parity sync.

 

HEY GARY!!!!

 

The server has been doing GREAT on the road. It really has done a fine job. 

 

I do not have another machine I can run the drive in as, well, you know we live in a motor coach.  So it is just our MacBooks and the terra server.

 

I used a drive from my notebook as the cache drive when I replaced it with an SSD.  So I was going to remove that and use the port to preclear. I do have another port I can use, just not sure the power supply will be able to handle more than the 6 full size drives and one Notebook drive.  It was that SILVERSTONE ST45SF-G 450W.

 

Only thing I have had to do up till now is replace a failing fan in the PS and one of the large case fans. 

[garycase]

Your power supply will easily handle an additional drive, if you want to just do that.    I've built several systems with 6 drives and the 300w Silverstone ... so your 450w can certainly handle one more plus an SSD.

 

On the other hand, just temporarily using the cache drive port would work fine.

 

Probably the easiest thing to do is to just have faith in the new drive and skip testing altogether 

If you start off with a known-good system [i.e. do a parity check and confirm all is well before changing anything];  and then stop the array; unassign the parity drive; start the array (so it's seen as missing); then shut down; replace the parity drive with the new one; boot; assign the new parity drive; and then Start the array and let it do a new parity sync ... and then do a parity check after the sync (which you should always do) ... the drive will effectively be VERY well tested in the process => every bit will have been written (during the sync); and every bit will have then been read back and validated (during the subsequent parity check).

 

... and if anything goes awry, you can simply replace the original parity drive.

 

 

 

[trurl]

Your power supply will easily handle an additional drive, if you want to just do that.    I've built several systems with 6 drives and the 300w Silverstone ... so your 450w can certainly handle one more plus an SSD.

I have that 450 and currently run 6 HDD + 2 SSD and have had another HDD in there without any problems.